History Through Architecture

Ancient Rome
The Romans, like the Greeks before them, used architecture to express themselves as well as to achieve highly practical objectives. This activity uses the Colosseum as a window into the cultural life of the Roman Empire.

Class Time: 3-4 Class Periods
Task: Create a Digital Story on the Roman Colosseum
Purpose: To understand how architecture can reflect a society’s cultural life

Instructions:
1. Working in pairs (or alone), you should conduct an Internet search for information on the Colosseum in Rome and on one modern stadium. You may choose to divide the task between yourselves.

2. You need to answer the following questions:
A. Who, or what, was responsible for building the Colosseum?
B. What name did the Romans originally use for the structure?
C. What can the construction of the Colosseum teach you about Roman culture and values?
D. Why was the Colosseum built? (Think about what the wealthy did for fun versus the poor)
E. What is the name of your modern-day stadium?
F. How many people can fit inside your stadium compared to the Colosseum?
G. What is the purpose of your stadium? (sports, religion, concerts, all three?)
H. You can include any other information that you find important or helpful in explaining your modern stadium and/or the Colosseum.

3. You and your partner should create a Digital Story using iMovie on the Mac (Photo Story 3 or Movie Maker on Windows -- must be done out of class) . You will present the background information on the Colosseum and then offer a comparison of the Colosseum with a modern-day stadium.

4. We will view your Digital Story during class time. We will view two or three each day until we have viewed them all.

How do we begin?

1. Choose your modern-day stadium.
2. Use Google.com to search information on the Colosseum and your modern-day stadium. YOU MAY NOT USE WIKIPEDIA OR ANY SITE RELATED TO WIKIPEDIA. Answer the questions above. ALWAYS remember to site your information!! Provide for me the Website you used.
3. Look for pictures to include in your Digital Story. You need at least six (6) pictures included with your Digital Story. Three should be of the Colosseum and three should be of your modern stadium. DO NOT LOOK FOR PICTURES UNTIL YOUR QUESTIONS ARE ANSWERED. ALWAYS remember to site your pictures!! Provide for me the Website you used.
4. You will need to write a script that you will read to record your voice on your Digital Story. You cannot begin importing pictures into your Digital Story until your script is complete. Your Story should be at least one minute. AT LEAST.
5. After you have written your script, you will need to import your pictures into iMovie to begin assembling your story. Transitions should be added. After all your pictures are imported and transitions are in, you will need to add text (your name, give your project a title, names of your pictures, etc). You also need to site your information – this is your chance to do that.
6. Recording your voice to end your story is last. You may need to adjust the timing of your pictures/transitions after you have recorded your voice. Again, you must have your script written before you can begin recording your voice.
7. Last step is saving and exporting. We will be saving this on USB drives. I will provide the USB drive, but if you’d also like to save your work to your personal USB drive, that is fine.

Grading
A rubric will be provided and grading will be based upon some of the following:
Accuracy
Attractiveness/Creativity
Photos – at least six
Oral Delivery
Collaboration/Use of Time

Colosseum Document